Mercedes-Benz C-Class — reliability by registration year
1997–2022 · 26 registration years · 340,596 first tests
Registration years
First-attempt MOT results for every C-Class registration year with at least 500 first tests in 2025. Pass rates rise with newer cars, so read a year against its neighbours rather than against the top of the table. Years without their own report are listed here with the same figures.
| Year | First tests | First-attempt pass | Incl. PRS | Most common failure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 4,378 | 88.7% | 90.0% | Tyres — Condition (front) 38.1% |
| 2021 | 5,769 | 87.0% | 88.9% | Tyres — Condition (front) 25.8% |
| 2020 | 9,433 | 85.7% | 87.3% | Tyres — Condition (front) 25.0% |
| 2019 | 23,530 | 85.5% | 87.3% | Tyres — Condition (front) 20.7% |
| 2018 | 26,966 | 83.7% | 85.9% | Tyres — Condition (front) 18.2% |
| 2017 | 37,580 | 81.5% | 84.2% | Tyres — Condition (front) 17.2% |
| 2016 | 34,859 | 80.1% | 83.1% | Coil spring (front) 14.3% |
| 2015 | 32,615 | 77.9% | 81.4% | Ball joint (front) 15.2% |
| 2014 | 24,165 | 75.0% | 78.4% | Ball joint (front) 13.4% |
| 1.4 pp better than the years either side What failed 2014 C-Classs most often: Ball joint (front) (13.4%) · Tread depth (rear) (11.7%) · Tyres — Condition (front) (10.9%) | ||||
| 2013 | 22,380 | 69.4% | 73.2% | Ball joint (front) 19.2% |
| 1.6 pp worse than the years either side What failed 2013 C-Classs most often: Ball joint (front) (19.2%) · Rbt (sp) (14.4%) · Linkage ball joint dust cover (front) (10.1%) | ||||
| 2012 | 24,448 | 66.9% | 71.1% | Ball joint (front) 22.5% |
| 2011 | 17,849 | 67.1% | 71.8% | Ball joint (front) 22.7% |
| 2010 | 12,159 | 65.6% | 71.5% | Ball joint (front) 18.3% |
| 2009 | 11,974 | 64.0% | 70.4% | Ball joint (front) 23.0% |
| 2008 | 12,485 | 63.3% | 70.3% | Ball joint (front) 21.5% |
| 2007 | 10,849 | 61.3% | 68.6% | Ball joint (front) 20.6% |
| 2006 | 8,303 | 58.2% | 65.5% | Ball joint (front) 21.0% |
| 2005 | 6,889 | 59.1% | 66.3% | Ball joint (front) 21.4% |
| 2004 | 5,099 | 57.8% | 65.8% | Ball joint (front) 20.2% |
| 2003 | 3,438 | 58.1% | 66.2% | Ball joint (front) 17.0% |
| 2002 | 1,935 | 63.2% | 69.7% | Ball joint (front) 16.4% |
| 2001 | 1,041 | 63.9% | 71.5% | Ball joint (front) 15.5% |
| 2000 | 501 | 66.5% | 72.5% | |
| 1999 | 644 | 68.2% | 74.5% | |
| 1998 | 723 | 71.2% | 78.0% | |
| 1997 | 584 | 67.8% | 75.3% | |